Dry Leaves
by guccileopard
Summary: She couldn't hear the answer, but she saw Rick back away from Lori, putting his hand on the fence and leaning on it for support. She sped away then, her white tank-top a blur in the corner of Rick's eye. A RickxOC story, slightly AU from show.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all! Welcome to my companion side-story for "They Say", my Daryl x OC story! You do NOT have to read that story in order to understand this one, but it might help some things make more sense if you do!**

**A little info for those who read "They Say" or are interested in doing so: This story is an AU companion! "They Say" will remain completely canon (meaning Lori and Rick are going to stay together in "They Say") besides Merle coming back (and Lette possibly getting with him ;D). But I had a lot of interest in a Rick x Lette romance so this side-story is for those people who would have liked to see it go this way!**

**Consider this a "choose your own adventure". If you wanted to see Lette get with Rick in They Say, then this is the story for you. If you want to see her with Merle, check out They Say!**

**This is picking up at the end of Chapter 8 in They Say when Lette is making her way towards the property fence to catch a breather before having to deal with Merle. **

**So, LET'S GET IT STARTED.**

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><p>If she were being honest with herself she didn't want to go back to the truck because she knew whatever stupid things Merle said would set her over the edge. She knew that was what he wanted and she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.<p>

It was hard to admit she felt weak. She wasn't going to let anyone know that, not even Mercedes who had offered time and again to listen if she ever needed to talk. Was it that obvious that something had happened to her?

Ugh, fuck this! She didn't need to be thinking about all that. Things were good now - well, as good as they could be. There was enough safety here to let her sleep at night. She HAD somewhere to sleep at night; that was a serious improvement over searching for some room to barricade herself in and sleeping with one eye open.

She pushed herself up against the fence and looked out across Hershel's fields. When she figured out how this all started she was going to kill whoever was responsible...

She noticed Lori leaning against the fence a good distance from her, staring off into the fields with the same seeming discontent that Lette was feeling. She still hadn't figured out where Lori had been that morning when she and Carol had been doing laundry - she was torn between concern that something was wrong and annoyance that she had been made to do twice the laundry. She toyed with the idea of going to say hi and figure out what had happened when a gnawing sensation gripped the bottom of her spine.

She had first noticed it when she had been arguing with Rick at the truck. He had been looking at her with nothing more than a friendly concern, denying her the chance to go out and look for Sophia on the grounds that she was too weak and malnourished. As only Lette could do her stubbornness got in the way and she had argued, wanting the chance to prove her stuff. But he hadn't relented, that iron will fortified by strong morals and a sense of what was right had triumphed over any verbal barrage she could have used against it.

She had noticed, ramped up by anger at his denial, just how blue his eyes were.

She grimaced, rolling her eyes at herself. Really? She was going to waltz into this camp and notice how attractive it's leader was? No. It was probably just how annoyed she was. She didn't have the time for that and besides, he was married.

Even though she kind of liked the stubble he was wearing...GODDAMN IT LETTE. She wrung her fingers together, trying to concentrate on the relaxing thing she had been trying to do before her own thoughts got in the way.

Ah, fuck it. This was never going to work. The longer she stood here by herself trying to relax the more she was going to work herself up. She started walking back towards camp, the sound of steps on the dirt road up the way pricking her ears. She looked over, expecting to see Lori heading back towards camp as well. Instead she saw Rick making his way over towards her, an anxious expression on his face.

Lette sped up but...it was almost impossible to miss what came next.

"You're tearing into me for keeping secrets when you're...when you're holding on to this!"

She ducked behind a tree when she heard Rick's voice snap through the late afternoon air. She didn't want them to know she was hearing this, really didn't. It was the last thing she needed to piss someone off when she wanted to be safe, be a part of them, so desperately.

"You want me to bring a baby into this? To live a short, cruel life?" she heard Lori retort. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping maybe she was dreaming and she wasn't hearing any of this.

They argued back and forth too quietly for Lette to hear, to her happiness. She began to slip away, trying to wind to the next tree without getting herself noticed when she heard Rick's voice rise again. She froze, thinking she'd been discovered.

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

Lette looked at the pair, oblivious to her wide-open position. It was almost like it mattered. Waiting for Lori's answer had her holding her breath...she couldn't hear the answer, but she saw Rick back away from her, putting his hand on the fence and leaning on it for support.

She sped away then, her white tank-top a blur in the corner of Rick's eye.

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><p>She walked as fast as she could without appearing totally guilty towards the truck where the Dixon clan slept. Maybe if she got here fast enough she could pass it off like she'd been with them the whole time.<p>

She could see the bright colors of Mercedes' leopard tattoo shining in the afternoon sun and smiled in amusement at the girl dancing around Daryl. The aforementioned man was watching the pale girl with a mixed look of concern and incredulity. Whatever was going on was bound to distract her from what she'd just witnessed.

"Dirty pony, I can't wait to hose you down!" Mercedes was singing, twirling around Daryl and dragging her hands across his chest. Lette sped in, unwilling to waste the oppurtunity to make Daryl uncomfortable.

"You've got to earn your leather in this part of town..." Lette continued, Mercedes spinning around like a psycho with a huge smile on her face.

"No way - I knew there was a reason I liked you!" she said, putting renewed energy into her dancing. "Dirty pearls and a patch for all the Rivington Rebels!"

Daryl glared at Lette.

"Why do you have to encourage her?"

Lette only took it as fuel to add to the fire, Merle watching her from the cab of the truck. He was thinking that he knew there was a reason he liked Lette too but it probably had less to do with her knowledge of Lady Gaga and more to do with her ass.

"Let's raise hell in the streets, drink beer and get into trouble!" Lette continued, looking Daryl right in the eye and smiling, knowing she was going to catch hell but not really caring.

Mercedes started running around the truck, Kane chasing after her and biting happily at her heels. Daryl just raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

"I think she got into your bag Merle..." Daryl said, digging through the bottles and checking to see if the pill levels had gone down significantly.

"Nope, that was me," Merle said, wiping his nose in case any of the white powder was left from the Percocets he'd crushed.

"Real classy," Lette said, leaning up against the side of the truck and rolling her eyes.

"Hey baby, I offered to share but you gave me the cold shoulder," Merle said, shrugging her shoulders to write off her insult. Nothing really got through his thick skin and Lette found herself liking that about him. He was not a loveable guy and he probably never would be. But she found him kind of amusing.

"And like I said the first time, I don't want to be hopped up on anything if zombies come running in here looking for our brains. It's hard enough escaping when you're sober," she explained.

"I got out just fine," Merle said, smiling and holding up his handless arm.

"Well I guess drugs come in handy when you have to cut off your own hand, yeah. But I can't say that would have been the first thing I would have tried either," Lette retorted, rolling her eyes at him.

She had almost forgotten about the argument she'd seen when she noticed Rick walking over towards the truck.

Shit, shit, shit!

"Hey Lette, can I talk to you for a second?" he said, his thumb hooked through a belt loop and the other handing by his side, his fingers clenching nervously every few seconds.

"Yeah, yeah sure," she said, feeling the Dixon brothers' eyes on the pair as they walked off towards the treeline. Rick looked over, making sure they were far enough away to talk without being overheard before he began.

"I saw you by the fence," he said. His tone wasn't accusing, but worried. Lette though, in her desperation to stay safe with the group, immediately panicked.

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overhear you two. I was already out by the fence just taking a breather when I saw Lori. I was going back to camp when I saw you going towards her and I just...I didn't know what to do so I just stayed put until I thought you were done," she said, trying to explain.

Rick looked sad.

"I'm not accusing you of anything. How much did you hear?"

"Enough. About the baby," she said, lowering her voice even furthur.

Rick was silently thankful that she hadn't overhead Lori's admittance about Shane. He didn't know if he could face the looks he'd get if everyone else knew.

"Lette, I'm asking you not to tell anyone. We really don't know what to do and we don't want anyone else to know right now," he said, rubbing his hand on the back of his head.

In that moment she could see all the strain in the corners of his eyes. The bags underneath them showed just how tired he was and the frown on the corners of his mouth tugged his entire face into exhaustion. She could almost see the weight on his shoulders, as if the dreams and hopes of the entire group were a physical weight he carried with him everywhere.

"I won't tell anyone. I promise," she said. She watched a little happiness break through the exhaustion.

"Thank you," he said, a handsome smile creasing lines into his face. "I still think it's too early but I know if I tell you can't go out tomorrow I'll probably get an earful. So do you want to search with Shane and I? That way we can see how good you are with a gun and if you're ready to go out," he offered, hoping for some kind of understanding between them. Between saying no today and asking her to keep their secret he felt awful.

"Yeah, I'm sure Shane will love that," Lette said, rolling her eyes. She could just hear the babysitting comments now! But she'd prove him wrong. "But I'd love too," she finished.

"Good, it's set then," Rick said. Lette smiled and waved him good-bye, watching him walk back to camp. When she went back to the truck Mercedes had stopped running around and looked at her quizzically.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"Eh, nothing. He just wanted to ask about me going out with him and Shane tomorrow because he feels bad about saying no this morning," Lette said, surprising herself with how easily the lie fell into place. Mercedes just nodded; it made sense.

The four walked into camp to grab some dinner. Everyone was in a good mood (besides the conspicuously absent Lori, a casual Rick informing the group she didn't feel well and was heading to sleep early) because of the extra food Daryl and Mercedes had caught that day. Kane even got a whole extra squirrel for helping out with catching food. He sat snuggled between Carl's legs, making the boy laugh every once in a while when he nudged under his knee with his nose.

The meal passed without mishap, everyone happy and chatting about what they'd be doing the next day or funny stories before zombies took over the world.

When they were all tired, bellies full and falling asleep to the sound of the crickets, the circle began to disperse. Mercedes and Daryl were spending their last night in the house and they waved good-night - well, Mercedes waved good-night while Daryl just grunted - and made their way away.

"So how about tonight sugar? Feeling up to it?" Merle said, slinging his arm around her shoulders. He was tall compared to her, muscular and towering over her. Maybe in another life she could have liked him. But Rick...okay really Lette? This is getting ridiculous. You can't do this to yourself! He's married, it's not gonna happen. Alright, that's settled. Move on. Good.

"Not tonight, Merle. Thanks though. Maybe some other time," she said, ducking out from under his arm.

"I'll be counting on it," he said, hauling himself into the truck and closing the door.

Lette snuggled into the sleeping bag and rolled her eyes. He just never gave up.

It took her a while to fall asleep, visions of Rick's tired face flashing across her mind as he stumbled under the weight of Lori's secret. What could she possibly have said that made him react that way?

It haunted her until her lids finally fell over her eyes and dreams took her away.

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><p>The next day dawned bright and early. Her alarm clock that morning was the delightful sound of Merle's snorts as he sucked something illegal up his nose.<p>

"It can't be any earlier than 8," she said, peeking her head through the window of the truck. "And you have some serious balls doing that with a police officer in the camp."

"Oh no, big bad Sheriff Grimes. What's he gonna do, throw me in jail? And haven't you ever heard of a wake n' bake?" he said, shoving pill bottles around the plastic bag. She could see he was in a particularly stubborn mood that day and gave up quickly. She was too excited about proving her stuff out on the search to ruin it by arguing with a stubborn ass like Merle. She changed quickly and shoved her knife into the makeshift hip holster she had for it, tucking her pistol into her waistband.

She found the group exactly as they had been the morning before, gathered around the grid map and choosing the plots that made the most sense. They'd been talking for about five minutes, Hershel interjecting with pertinent information about the land every few moments so they could direct their search better, when Kane's barking started up.

Mercedes looked up, confused.

"He hardly ever barks. It's weird - it's like he knows better then to draw attention to himself by making noise..." Mercedes said, trailing off. If he was barking it could only mean something was wrong.

It got louder, angrier. Mercedes looked panicked - something was really, really wrong.

"Oh my god, Carl? CARL!"

Lori's voice shot through the air, its tone thick and shrill with desperation. Rick's face was the picture of alarm, looking in the direction of his wife's voice: "What's going on?" he yelled, grabbing his pistol from its spot in Dale's bag despite Hershel's protests.

"I thought he was over here. He said he was coming over here to ask you if he could come out with you today! He had Kane with him but I heard him barking and it wasn't in this direction. He must have gone out in the woods. Why would he..." Lori choked, holding her stomach and looking like she was going to throw up.

A scream rang out of the woods to join Kane's barks. Rick was off, running faster than Lette would have thought possible. She didn't hesitate to run after him. She heard Mercedes behind her calling for Kane. The dog's barks were ringing in Lette's ears despite how far away they were. They meant nothing but trouble, danger...death.

They had to get there before something happened to Carl. Lette poured on the speed in an effort to keep up with him, pulling her knife out of its sheath and preparing for the worst.

It would break Rick in two if something happened to his son.


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome to another chapter! I had a lot of fun writing the first chapter for this so I said WHY THE HELL NOT?**

**For those of you who read "They Say", never fear! It's still my priority but this is a fun side project that's making my enthusiasm for They Say even greater - if that's possible. You can expect Chapter 9 of They Say late tomorrow. :)**

**PM's have gone out to my lovely reviewers: akingwithnocrown and twilightcity. :D To my anon reviewer, thank you for the kind words!**

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><p>Everything was eerily quiet in that moment. She could have sworn she was suddenly deaf if it weren't for the harsh intake of her breathing and Kane's barking breaking through the silence. Panic sucked away all her resources, fueling nothing but her lungs and her muscles as she pounded the distance between the group and uncertainty.<p>

It was easy to find Carl once they'd crossed the threshold of the woods, his screams echoing off the trees. They could hear the groans of the walkers - it didn't sound like more than two or three but when it came to someone as young as Carl alone in the woods...the hunt for Sophia had made it clear to all of them that it was dangerous. She didn't think it was possible but Rick poured on speed, jumping over logs and ducking under branches in his way. They all did their best to keep up, Lette's fingers clutching around the handle of her knife.

When they got to the patch of woods where Carl was fending off the geeks Lette heard Mercedes gasp. Kane was covered in blood, his short fur drenched. He was leaping at the zombies and for a second Lette thought he'd taken to biting them in defense of Carl. But she realized he'd been jumping into them, using the all the force of his breed to slam them away as best he could. It was really a good tactic - the zombies couldn't get up very quickly because of their poor coordination and it bought Carl time.

The kid had gotten his leg caught in a woodchuck hole, tears of terror dragging through the dust on his face.

Kane ran to Mercedes' side, the girl petting him on the head and ignoring the blood sticking to her palm.

One geek, ambitious and less rotted than the others, took the brief moment without a dog ramming into it to get close to its prey. If it could salivate it would as it eyeballed Carl, reaching out a disgusting hand for his arm. Rick, running on more adrenaline than he had ever felt in his life, took the knife Lori was holding limply in her hand - a shocked, dumbfounded expression painting her face - and stabbed the thing through the eye, a growl coming from somewhere deep in his chest.

Lette leaped over the zombie laying in front of Rick and drove her knife up under it's chin, piercing its brain and feeling it hang limp in her hand.

The sound of one of Daryl's arrows whizzing past her head made her look up to see the last zombie hit the ground with a thud.

The group was silent, standing over the bodies and breathing hard. Lette had her hands on her knees to hold herself up and Mercedes was sniffling, trying to hide the fact that she had started crying while checking Kane over for scratches or bites. Her face was panicked, her fingers scrabbling frantically over Kane's fur. When she was finished and her face relaxed the tears flowed freely and she pressed the back of her wrist to her mouth to stop the choking sobs. Daryl's hand wrapped over her shoulder, squeezing and trying to be comforting despite the fact that he felt like he was choking on a melon.

Rick immediately got to work moving the Earth to allow Carl to wiggle his foot out.

"Does it hurt?" Rick asked. Carl, who had stopped crying as soon as the threat on his life had ended, grimaced in pain but was otherwise being pretty damn brave for a kid who had almost gotten killed.

"A little, but I think I can stand on it," he said, putting weight gingerly on it and trying to hide the look of pain. He was already in enough trouble as it was - he didn't want them to think he was a baby on top of it. Using his Dad's elbow for support he began walking back towards camp, preparing to catch a verbal whooping once Hershel confirmed he wasn't seriously hurt.

The rest of the group filed out behind them, Daryl watching in the trees in case more zombies were lurking. Rick would have been thankful that he was so vigilant if some burning anger wasn't inside his chest.

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><p>"What did you think you were doing out there?" Lori demanded of Carl, her lips in a tight line as she waited for an answer.<p>

"I was going to go look for Sophia," Carl said, knowing how stupid it sounded. At the moment it had seemed like an excellent idea. Kane would keep him safe and he'd come back a hero with his friend in tow. They would finally see what he was worth!

But then that stupid hole had to get in the way.

"All by yourself, no weapon?" Lori asked, crossing her arms and cocking a hip.

"I wasn't alone!" Carl replied indignantly, indicating Kane. "And I...had a weapon," he finished, shifting uncomfortably and looking unendingly guilty.

"What?" Lori said after a short pause to process the information.

"I...okay, I snuck into the camper while Dale wasn't looking and I took the gun Dad and Shane trained me to use. Everyone treats me like I'm an old person or something since I got shot. I just want to help!" he said, spilling his guts in the hope that they'd go easier on him for telling the truth.

Lori couldn't believe her ears.

"We'd be more inclined to let you help if you weren't stealing and sneaking off on your own. I need to talk to your Father to decide what we're going to do about this," she said, shaking her head, her eyes wide and disbelieving as she exited the room where Hershel had looked over Carl's ankle. It was sprained but wouldn't keep him up longer than two or three days.

"I can't believe he would do something like that - he stole the gun from Dale's bag in the camper and then just went off on his own like the Lone Ranger or something," Lori said as she stormed into the room where Rick was waiting for her. He'd been talking to Hershel who was cross that the group was getting hurt so often. He didn't say anything when Lori entered, just looked at her with an expression his wife wasn't familiar with.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, the angry edge leaving her voice to be replaced with a wary one.

"How could you let this happen?" Rick asked, his tone angrier than Lori could remember. She wasn't scared - Rick wasn't the type of man to strike a woman no matter what the circumstances were - but his anger was palpable in the air.

"Me? How is this my fault?" she asked, incredulous.

"You KNEW how annoyed he was that we said he couldn't come out with us today, how upset he is that we haven't found Sophia yet. I expected him to be safe with you but not only does he get away from you to steal out of the RV but he gets into the woods without you noticing? What were you doing Lori?" Rick asked, trying to keep his voice even. The words came out harsh but it was only because he was still getting over the terror of almost losing his son. He knew Lori loved Carl beyond words but he couldn't believe that any of it had been allowed to happen.

Lori, for her part, knew exactly what she had been doing. She had been clutching the last of the morning-after pills - the ones she hadn't taken in case she needed extras because the first round didn't work - tears in her eyes and indecision in her heart. The conversation with Rick had killed her. Of course she wanted the baby but what would she ever do with it? It would only work if they could stay here but nothing was sure anymore. They could live here happily or have to pack it up tomorrow and move on. She couldn't have a baby crying at night and attracting walkers, couldn't watch it grow up and know nothing but fear...

She had a recurring nightmare...she watched herself die, eaten alive by the zombies as she screamed for her child in its blankets. What if she were killed and the child was left defenseless? She always woke up before the inevitable horrifying conclusion but she could never, ever allow something like that to happen.

Why couldn't Rick see all these things?

But the worst part was wondering if - and the possibility was great - that what was growing inside of her shared nothing in common with Rick. What if the baby was Shane's, a daily reminder of something she constantly regretted? Well, if she were being honest she had enjoyed - no, loved - the relief of having Shane at her side. She had thought she even felt the stirrings of...no, she wouldn't betray her relationship with Rick to thoughts of that. But what if it was born and its skin was olive, its hair dark, its nose shaped like a father that wasn't Rick?

So she, crying and indecisive, had left her son alone and to his own devices long enough to crack his master plan.

But she couldn't say that. She couldn't say she had been contemplating finishing her own abortion of a child that possibly wasn't Rick's.

So instead she just shrugged, tears filling her eyes for all the things she wanted to say but couldn't and all the things she should say but wouldn't.

Rick grimaced and looked away, standing up to leave the room. He turned before he left the doorway, looking to the floor as he prepared to say how he felt.

"You know Lori - before all this happened I was telling Shane how we were having problems. I can only imagine now how he was laughing at me. But it doesn't matter. You were always telling me to 'speak', to tell you what was on my mind. But now that I am you won't talk to me. I have to pry your secrets out of you and when I do they kill me," he said, leaving the room before his voice broke along with the shambles of his marriage.

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><p>Daryl, Mercedes, Maggie, Glenn, and Lette had been in the kitchen and the raised voices had been hard to miss. Not a single one of them said a word when Rick walked in. If the situation had been reversed they wouldn't have wanted to know that the group was well aware of the dirty laundry that had just been aired.<p>

"Daryl, will you help me clean Kane off?" Mercedes asked, her face tired and overwhelmed. For a few minutes she'd thought she was going to lose not only her beloved dog, but a boy she'd come to know and care about. Daryl nodded to her and then looked at Rick who gave him a nod of thanks for his help. Both left the kitchen, Kane dragging along tiredly after them.

Glenn and Maggie both went their own directions, their eyes avoiding Rick's as they shuffled away.

That left Lette feeling awkward. If she left the room she'd make it obvious that they had heard and leave Rick feeling embarrassed and even worse than he probably already did. If she didn't leave...she'd have to act nonchalant which was admittedly the last thing she felt capable of in that moment.

"Are we still going out today?" she asked, thinking it was a safe bet to mention what they had originally been planning to do.

"Oh yeah, yeah...let's uh, can you tell everyone and we'll meet by the truck in ten?" he said, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers to quell his racing thoughts.

She nodded, getting up out her chair and moving towards the doorway. As she opened the door to leave she turned around and tried to think of something to say. She'd never been good in these types of situations, could never think of the right words to say.

Rick looked at her and tried a smile. She just smiled back and thought better of the words she was trying to say, kicking up dirt in frustration as she went off to find the group who'd been planning on going out.

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><p>It was surprisingly calm between Shane and Rick when they were searching together with Lette.<p>

If she were Rick, knowing what happened between his wife and Shane, she wouldn't have been able to keep the poker-face that Rick wore so well. It really seemed as if he knew nothing about it. It all just seemed strange to her. Even if Lori had believed that Rick was dead two months seemed like a short time to fall in with another guy after your husband's supposed death. Wasn't there a grieving process or something? Maybe Lette just put a higher price on loyalty.

Lette didn't know how much Shane knew. Hell, she didn't know if Shane knew that Rick knew (damn this was all getting confusing) that something had gone on when they'd thought him dead. So, no matter what, she was going to keep her mouth shut and not exacerbate an already shitty situation.

They spent a few hours pushing through the woods, tacking orange rags onto trees to guide Sophia back to camp if she came through their area. It was eerily quiet to Lette. She was so used to the constant danger of moving through the streets, falling asleep to the quiet gasps of moaning zombies through thin walls, that the peace of the woods somehow felt wrong.

They came across no zombies. She had no chance to prove that she was decent with a gun but then again they probably wouldn't have allowed her to show off anyway - no need to draw attention to themselves. At least she was able to prove her capabilities with her knife earlier that morning.

When they got back to camp Daryl and Mercedes still weren't back. They'd left Kane with Carl who was sitting on a log outside his family's tent. He avoided eye contact with Rick when the trio returned, pretending to be picking something up for Kane when his father passed by. Lette tried to hide her smile - how many times had she pulled the same thing as a kid?

She felt a pang of despair then but instantly stopped herself. She would NOT think about that. It was the last thing Rick needed, to hear about what had...what had happened to her. He had enough on his mind without seeing the emotion in her face. So she sucked it up.

Shane went off on his own to do who knew what while Rick and Lette went to sit by where the group had their campfires. It was quiet now with Daryl and Mercedes still out (the pair almost always had some kind of story or said something - both on purpose and inadvertently - that made the rest laugh) and the rest of the survivors were busy doing other tasks.

"So, I guess I didn't really get to prove my stuff today," Lette said, desperate to keep Rick away from his troubling thoughts.

"Not with a gun at least, no. But we know you're good with a knife, that's for sure," he said, looking both pleased and sad that he'd only been able to see her use her knife in circumstances which meant the life or death of his son.

"Thanks," she said, pleased with the compliment. She flashed him a smile and he smiled back, opening his mouth to ask her where she'd gotten so good with it when Shane came back, his arms swinging angrily at his sides.

"Rick, I need to talk to you," he said, his voice wavering with the rage he was trying to contain. Rick stood up, his face guarded.

"What is this about?" he asked.

"I think you know what it's about," Shane said, pressing his fingers to his mouth and then flexing them angrily. Lori came over to them then, her eyes red-rimmed and watery.

"I had to tell him Rick," she said, her voice wobbly with tears. "There's things we need to talk about."

Lette put her hand to Rick's back for a second to give him comfort and then hurried off into the rest of camp, trying to forget the broken look on his face.

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><p><strong>So, kind of a quiet chapter but next chapter we get into the meat. I know this is VERY AU and some people may not like it but it's fun to write and I'm enjoying it just for myself. Isn't that one of the purposes of Fanfiction anyway - exploring how things might be different if events were slightly tweaked in the show? :) If you'd like to see my writing in canon check out my main story "They Say", a Daryl x OC AND Merle x OC that has Rick and Lori together and happy. Well, as happy as they are on the show. :P<strong>

**Thanks again for the reviews!**


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